Paul Decker

'Paul Decker (1677 - 1713), one of the most important exponents of German Baroque, went to Berlin to study under Schlüter, then returned to his native Nürnberg to become architect of Salzbach in Bavaria and later of the Bayreuth Court where his influence is clear, for instance, in Ränz's Hermitage built between 1715 and 1718. He had little opportunity of putting his grandiose fantasy to practical tests, but in the pages of his book designed one of the most complete and magnificent palace-and-grounds schemes any King of his time could have wished for. These designs, superbly engraved by the best masters of the period, show an extension of the high-point of Italian baroque building, sculpting and quadratura painting, while at the same time spreading the taste of Louis XIV decoration as defined in the work of Bérain'. (Weinreb).